Words Hurt
by bittie752
Summary: Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own issues that we don't realize how much the callous things we say can hurt the ones we love the most.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm not in the best of moods and I'm writing angst to make myself feel better. So MAJOR ANGST WARNING I still don't own Doctor who, much to my chagrin but I do like to torture the characters. Don't worry there is a resolution to come, in time.**

~oOo~

"And that is why I shouldn't have to go to your mother's for brunch every single Sunday." The Doctor finally finished with his fifteen minute rant and flopped down into an arm chair. Rose gritted her teeth and grabbed her hand bag; the car service would be here any moment. Frankly, she was tired of his rants about how he's over 900 years old and in all that time he hadn't really done families and shouldn't be expected at any of those types of domestic functions. Part of her had thought that he knew what he was getting into when they'd been left on that bloody beach.

She'd been wrong, about a lot of things apparently.

The intercom buzzer sounded, indicating that the driver was there. Grumbling the Doctor made no attempt to stand as Rose crossed the room. "Be right down," she replied into the speaker.

"Roooose," the Doctor whinged. "Do we really have to go?"

Closing her eyes to stave off the tears, she shook her head. Everything that she had been thinking about and feeling for the past few days came to a head. "No Doctor, you don't have to go. In fact, consider yourself uninvited, permanently." Turning she had her hand on the door and was ready to leave when he jumped out of the chair and turned her around.

His eyes fixed onto hers. "What's wrong?"

"Really?" she snorted. "You've spent the last eighteen months complaining about being asked to do anything with my family, or having to have a job, or legal documentation, or even having to take me to _another one of those boring parties_ and when I tell you that I'm releasing you for all current and future obligations and you ask me what's wrong."

"Rose, I didn't really mean it," he backpedaled quickly.

Gently, she removed his hand from her arm. "No, I think that you did. All of it." She kept her voice as calm as she could. "It was front page news in the Mirror last week. You do remember the headline don't you?"

He averted his eyes, doing a passable impression of looking embarrassed. His gob had gotten away from him and for Rose it had been humiliating to come into work and have everyone know just what her so called boyfriend thought about the state of their relationship.

_Mysterious Boyfriend of Tyler Heiresses Scoffs at the Idea of Marriage._

In the article it stated that during a recent interview about his newest invention, Dr. John Smith had opened up about his relationship with Rose. He'd said that while they were happy there definitely weren't wedding bells on the horizon and probably never would be because he didn't believe in domestic trappings.

"I didn't mean…" he protested but she cut him off.

"Just stop, Doctor. I'm sorry that I'm not enough for you." She fought back the tears determined not to cry while she said this. "I thought that you knew that this was all I could ever give you. Maybe you did and you just can't adapt to the changes. Can't teach an old dog new tricks, you know. And things are about to get a whole lot more domestic for me so for you it would probably be if you just go."

His eyes went wild and he grabbed her shoulders. "No! Go? You can't mean that. Not after everything that we've been through. And more domestic what do you mean?"

Rose clamped a hand over his mouth. "4788.698A in the Torchwood unidentified alien tech vault, there's a vortex manipulator. It's not the TARDIS but you'll have your freedom back. I won't have you feeling obligated to me and I won't have our child finding those interviews in ten years' time and blaming me for you being miserable." She moved her hand from his mouth. "The car's waiting. I need to go. Goodbye, Doctor."

Obviously, she'd stunned him with her words, so she took the opportunity to slip into the hallway. She had made it to the lift when he caught her up. "Rose, I don't understand. Our child?"

Taking in a deep breath, she squared her shoulders. "I'm pregnant and I'm keeping it. Found out last week, the day before the Mirror article. After that I didn't know how to tell you." The lift dinged behind her and she stepped inside.

"Baby?" A soft smile flitted across his face and he tried to follow her onto the lift. "Rose, that's…"

She blocked his path. "Please don't say that it's a good thing and that you promise to be here for me. Words hurt, Doctor and the can be very telling. I'll be fine, the baby and I will be fine. I have a family to lean on." Gently, she moved him so that the doors could close. "See ya."

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	2. Chapter 2

The lift doors slid shut and the Doctor felt as if he couldn't breathe. Rose was having a baby, their baby and she had all but kicked him off the planet. Oh this was not good. This was two miles, a zeppelin ride and about a universe away from good. He rushed for the stairwell, bound and determined not to let her get away. There was too much at stake.

Blast it if the he didn't run straight into Mrs. Potts on the third floor landing and accidently barrel the old woman over. Hastily he'd picked up her things and helped right her on her feet before yelling a halfhearted apology over his shoulder as he flew the rest of the way to the ground floor. Slamming open the front doors without waiting for the doorman, he was just in time to see a car with Rose's blonde hair peeking through the back window take off down the street. Bollocks.

"I can call you a taxi if you want, sir," Winston, the doorman, said coming up behind him. "Although, I'm fairly certain if you don't want to have a huge row near her mother. Miss Rose looked absolutely heartbroken."

Rose had lived in this building since before he came to Pete's World and had become somewhat of a confidant during that time. So Winston knew her fairly well. The older man was very nice, kept the paparazzos at bay and never said anything about the strange devices that the Doctor routinely snuck in the back door. This was a man that the Doctor was very fond of and trusted far more than most.

"I read what you said about her in the papers, Doctor. If I'm being honest with you, I was surprised that we didn't get a notice banishing you from the premises that afternoon. A woman like that doesn't come along every day and you'll be lucky to get back in her good graces."

Winston was right. Wrapped up in his own issues adjusting to this new life, the Doctor hadn't noticed that the things he said were hurting Rose. Yes, he had known that the interview had gone too far. But in his defense, he had apologized that night. He thought that she had forgiven him, even if she hadn't actually said it. Apparently, she'd had much bigger, or in this case smaller, things on her mind. Something tiny, precious, life altering, awe inspiring and completely wonderful and Rose thought he wouldn't want any part of it.

"About that taxi, sir?" Winston prodded, most likely in an attempt to get the Doctor to move out of the entryway.

"No, thanks. You're right, I shouldn't go after her, not to her mother's." The Doctor rubbed his cheek. The phantom sting from the slap he was sure to receive for this. Jackie would be sure to kill him for this. "I am going to head out though. There are a few things that I need to take care of." The Doctor shoved his hands in his pockets and took off down the street with no real destination in mind.


	3. Chapter 3

It was half eight when Rose finally made it back their, no her, building. The Doctor had surely left by now. When he hadn't shown up by mid-afternoon she knew that he must have jumped at his chance to travel the universe again. A happy Doctor somewhere in time and space was much preferably to one pretending to be content stuck here on Earth. It was good that he was happy and she'd be okay. Soon enough she'd have the baby and being a single mum wouldn't be so bad. She'd always have Mum, Dad and Tony too.

She wasn't sure she could face an empty flat right now but there wasn't much choice unless she wanted to go back the estate. Tentatively, she pushed open the front door. Stepping inside she wasn't greeted with the dark silence that she was expecting. Instead she found the lights on and smelled something delicious coming from the kitchen. Her stomach growled. She hadn't eaten much at lunch or breakfast for that matter. Morning sickness had started already, and it probably due to the fact that she was pregnant with a partially alien baby.

"Oh good you're home."

The Doctor was standing at the stove, barefoot. There was a ladle in his hand and he was stirring a something in a large stockpot. Setting down the spoon, he crossed the room to stand in front of her. He reached out a hand to take hers and Rose stepped back. "Right," he said running his hand through his hair. "I was starting to get worried. Not that you don't have every right to stay at your mother's for as long as you like. But I thought maybe you wouldn't some back at all tonight and I was hoping that we could talk."

"We don't do that," Rose replied. "Never have. Why are you here Doctor? I figured that you'd be halfway to Raxacoricofallapatorius by now." Somehow she managed to keep her voice even.

"You really thought I would leave?" His voice was filled with hurt. "I would never just abandon you Rose, especially not now. You and the baby are going to need special care. This pregnancy is one of a kind. I made you some soup. Choke full of amino acids that you'll need to gestate a healthy Time Lord/Human fetus. You need me here."

Of course, she and the baby were simply obligations. He wasn't staying because he wanted to be with her. "No we don't. Feel free to leave notes and suggestions for my doctor at Torchwood and then you can leave. Don't feel the need to stay here out of some sort of misguided sense of nobility. We both know that you aren't cut out for this. Better to leave now and save us all heartbreak when you run away." She stalked off towards their room.

"Rose, I don't intend on running away from you. Ever," he protested.

Rounding on him, she raised her voice. "All you have done since you arrived here is run. Maybe not physically but your whinging about domestics was you telling me that I'm not enough and I've had it." Her hands clenched into fists. "I'm trying to be the bigger person here. Trying to let you be happy, now just leave, Doctor, please."


	4. Chapter 4

"No," the Doctor said in a strangled cry. "I'm not leaving you, not now not ever. Please believe me Rose."

She shook her head and backed away. Desperately, she wanted to believe him but wasn't sure that she could. "Why should I?" Her voice came out as barely more than a whisper.

Reaching out, he tried to touch her again but Rose flinched back. She couldn't just drop this. Let him sweet talk her now and bolt in a few months.

The Doctor scrubbed a hand over his face. "I'm not good at this, Rose. For over a century, I never had to worry about what I said or what I did." He tugged at his hair. "I just did things and bugger the consequences."

"I don't expect you to change," she murmured, sinking down onto the sofa suddenly feeling very tired. "I'll be alright on my own Doctor, really. Please don't think you have to stay out of," she swallowed hard, "obligation."

In a flash, he was on the floor kneeling at her feet. "I want this. I want to be here with you and the baby." His voice hitched. "Our baby. I'm just rubbish at the whole keeping my gob under control. Plus your mum and her non-stop harping about making an honest woman of you makes me want to rebel and say things meant to push her buttons. Not thinking about how it might make you feel." He closed his eyes. "I've never really been a part of a family before, never really wanted to be before I met you. There is nowhere in time or space I'd rather be than by your side. I promise."

"But all those things that you've said." A tear slipped down her cheek. "You made it sound like marrying me, being with me, is the unbearable. Why would you say things like that if you weren't trying to send me a message?"

He sighed and moved to sit next to her. "I'm a prat. I am rude and not ginger and incapable of keeping my foot out of my mouth. I mean, I must really love the taste of crow as much of it as I need to eat at times." Despite herself, Rose laughed. This time when he reached for her hand, she let him take it. "In my experience the Universe is not kind, especially to me and I'm scared because everything that I love, everything that I hope to have gets ripped away from me. So I protest, hoping that if the Universe is listening, that just this once, I'll get to have what I want. I want to you and this life and our very own family." His free hand moved to her stomach and he beamed. She didn't think that she had ever seen him smile so brightly.

"Yeah?" Rose asked, daring to feel hope for the first time in days.

"Oh yes," he whispered, moving his hand from her abdomen to her cheek. "I could have chosen anywhere to go after I was, for lack of a better way to put it, grown out of a hand. Dozens of past companions that I could have chosen to spend my one human life with and I chose you and I'd do it again every time. I love you, Rose and if you want, I would marry you tomorrow. Or whenever you're ready."

The knot in her stomach loosened slightly and she leaned towards him. "And you're not just saying this because I'm pregnant?"

"No, not just because you're pregnant because you are my everything and I'm a fool for ever letting you think otherwise. Can you ever forgive me?"

Another tear fell from her eye and he wiped it away with his thumb. "Just tell me you're sorry," she echoed his words from so long ago.

The corner of his mouth twitched. "I am so very sorry."

Rose leaned over and kissed him softly, feeling his whole body relax against her. "I love you, too. You daft alien," she whispered against his lips, right before her stomach growled.

"Oh you must be starved," the Doctor replied as he scrambled off the couch. "I made you stew. It's filled with protein and amino acids that are essential for the baby's development and it has a spice combination that will help with that pesky upset stomach problem. Let me get you a bowl."

A few minutes later, he returned with a tray holding two steaming bowls of soup and what looked like fresh made bread. Rose smiled as she tucked into the delicious meal. Things may not be completely fixed between them but they were going to be.

~oOo~

A little over a year later, Rose sipped a glass of champagne while she watched the Doctor cradle their daughter close as he moved around the dance floor. It had been a small wedding, only twenty or so of their closest friends and family. Her mum had insisted on a proper reception. A gourmet meal, large center pieces, cake (one layer of which was banana) and of course a DJ. Rose had quickly squashed the idea of a string quartet.

Her eyes lingered on her husband, the love of her life. He may not have done a complete 180 since she told him that she was pregnant with Susan but he had done the absolute best that he could. Never once did he complain about doctor's visits, or holding her hair back while she was curled over the toilet. He rubbed her feet when they were swollen and read a story to her belly every night.

Sometimes he still acted like he wanted to run, mostly when Jackie was breathing down his neck. This time though, when he wanted to rebel against her henpecking, he took Rose with him. They took several holidays before Rose was too far gone to travel, Barcelona, Rome, New York and Morocco.

Across the room, the Doctor caught her eye and waved her over. Lifting the hem of her simple dress, she made her to the two most important people in her life. Immediately, the Doctor wrapped the arm not holding the baby around her waist.

"Have I told you lately how beautiful you are?" he whispered in her ear as he held her close.

"Only a few times today, love." The straightened his tie. "You don't look half bad yourself."

"I don't think I can ever tell you how glad I am that you gave me another chance." He kissed her softly. "This is only place I'd ever want to be, here with my girls."

Leaning her head against his chest, she inhaled his comforting scent while they twirled lazily around the room. She knew exactly what he meant.

Tomorrow, the three of them were leaving for a three week trip to Australia. Her mum was upset that they were taking the baby away for so long, but that's just how their little family was going to work now. The Doctor, Rose and Susan Tyler, seeing new places, running into new adventures, even if it meant that the Doctor was wearing a Bjorn, they were in this together. Forever.


End file.
